Setup

Before playing, resolve the following steps:

Gather Forces:
Each player places their ships and upgrade cards on
the table in front of them. For each ship that has a
shield value,
charge limit,
or Force capacity,
place the corresponding shields,
, or
above the ship and/or upgrade cards. Each player assigns
ID markers to each of
their ships.

Determine Player Order:
The player with the lowest squad point
total chooses who is the first player. Otherwise, randomly determine the
first player.

Establish Play Area:
Establish a 3' x 3' (91 cm x 91 cm) play area
on a flat surface or use a playmat, such as the Fantasy Flight Games
Starfield Playmat. Then players pick opposite edges of the play area
to be their player edges.

Place Obstacles:
In player order, players take turns choosing an
obstacle and placing it into the play area until all six obstacles have been
placed. Obstacles must be placed beyond range 1 of each other and
beyond range 2 of each edge of the play area.

Place Forces:
Players place their ships into the play area in initiative order
from lowest to highest initiative, using player order as a tiebreaker.
Ships must be placed within range 1 of their player edge. When a ship
with a turret arc indicator is placed, the player rotates the arc to select a
standard arc. Each ship with a turret arc indicator may rotate its indicator
when the ship is placed.

Prepare Other Components:
Shuffle the damage deck and place it
facedown outside the play area. If the players have more than one damage
deck, each player uses their own deck.
Then the supply of range rulers, templates, dice, and tokens is created
near the play area.

Additionally:

If a card has the "SETUP:" header, this effect is resolved during the
appropriate step of setup.